Chapter 43.1
“Can’t eat it?”
“What can’t you eat?”
“Why can’t you eat it?”
In this scene, Yu Le’s reflexes took a while to catch up. His rusty mind suggested that there’s still some melon left on the stove, and if Lu Yao really wanted it, he could go get it for him.
But as he stumbles over his words and sees Lu Yao’s gaze, he suddenly understands.
His expression freezes, and his head seems to be emitting invisible white smoke.
“Wow! It’s a little starfish!”
Miao Miao’s excited exclamation fills the small courtyard with the innocent laughter of the children.
“Draw it some eyes and a nose!”
“Ye Bao wants to draw too, Ye Bao wants to play.”
“Okay then, Ye Bao, you come here, Miao Miao, step back a bit so your skirt doesn’t get dirty!”
“Alright!”
The three kids, their backs turned, were engrossed in their sandcastle world, completely unaware of what’s happening elsewhere.
Yu Le took a quick glance to make sure they wouldn’t see, then swiftly moved closer to Lu Yao and, breath unsteady, planted a kiss on the corner of his mouth.
The soft warmth of the contact was fleeting, as light as a feather. In the blink of an eye, Lu Yao’s face, tinged with pink, was covered up.
Yu Le hid behind the mountain god mask, his voice muffled, “Why do you look so wronged? I never said I wouldn’t give you…”
He decided not to continue; the word “eat” had too many connotations and he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud.
Lu Yao lifted his hand and lightly touched the spot Yu Le kissed, then glanced at Yu Le’s fingers, which were blushing too. He suddenly smiled.
Seeing Lu Yao’s reaction, Yu Le tightened his grip on the mask, his breath becoming even more erratic, his gaze drifting away.
The wind blows in from outside the courtyard, whipping up fine dust into swirls and rustling through the treetops, causing the already precarious locust flowers to fall.
Seizing the chance, Yu Le quietly created a small gap in the mask, hoping the breeze will cool his face.
The next moment, his neck was gently held.
He looks down in confusion and saw Lu Yao’s face enlarging in the empty eye holes of the mask.
A flower fell into his narrow field of vision, and a kiss lightly pressed against his lips through the mask.
With his fingers too weak to hold the mask, Yu Le’s hand was saved just in time by a rough, wet hand before the mask can completely slide off.
A soft laugh fills his ears, tying up all the tangled threads in Yu Le’s mind.
“Not wronged anymore.”
“Thank you, my dear.”
Yu Le, who indeed didn’t understand how to handle a relationship, found himself enjoying the blushing and heart-pounding sensation, stumbling through every step. He knew that whenever he was about to fall, Lu Yao would always catch him.
Their interactions seem unchanged; Yu Le still clung to Lu Yao, playing the role of his little shadow.
The only difference was that occasionally Yu Le remembered they were in a relationship now, and experimented with being slightly bold and daring, slowly exploring and approaching.
Lu Yao’s attitude was always silently indulgent, as if even if Yu Le pushed his luck, Lu Yao wouldn’t get angry. Instead, he would simply take him along for a ride around the world.
It’s as if he wanted to tell Yu Le directly: “I have no bottom line with you. Here, you can do whatever you want.”
Everything felt new to Yu Le.
When he was in a good mood, the weather was good, and his appetite was great. It turned out that eating with a boyfriend made everything taste better. But then, he got overwhelmed with emotion.
“What’s wrong?” Lu Yao keenly noticed that Yu Le had set his chopsticks aside unusually early.
Yu Le feels a bit uneasy in his stomach, not painful, just uncomfortable and bloated. “I’m full. I want to go lie down upstairs for a bit.”
Since Lu Yao was heading out after lunch, he nodded,”Okay, I’ll go help at Ye Bao’s house and come back later.”
Yu Le lay down upstairs and felt somewhat better. He pulled out his phone to browse some news. Soon, sleepiness overtook him, and he turned off his phone, tucked it under his pillow, and wrapped himself in the blanket, falling asleep.
After a few muddled dreams, he woke up to a light touch on his forehead. He groggily opened his eyes and saw Lu Yao sitting by the bed.
“Mr. Lu,” he said weakly, his voice a bit hoarse.
“Hmm, I’m here.” Lu Yao touched his face and softly asked, “Baby, is something wrong?”
Yu Le had been tense while sleeping, his face half-covered by the blanket, nestled in the soft pillow like a sleepy kitten. His voice had been soft and made one’s heart ache.
His mind had been foggy like a glass pane in the morning mist. After a while, the mist had condensed into droplets, and his thoughts had become clearer. He touched the area above his stomach and closed his eyes in Lu Yao’s palm. “My stomach hurts.”
It feels a bit painful.
“Got it. It’s okay, wait a moment.”
Lu Yao had gently squeezed his face, gotten up, and returned with a cup of warm water and some stomach medicine.
Yu Le had taken the medicine and lain back down. Lu Yao had sat by the bed, reaching under the blanket to gently rub his stomach through the thin layer of clothing.
The medicine had dissolved in his stomach, gradually easing the discomfort and warming him up. With Lu Yao’s tender and patient touch, Yu Le, who had just woken up, had quickly fallen asleep again.
When he woke up again, the sky outside had been dim, and warm yellow lights had been on in the corridor. The room had been softly illuminated from outside, and he had been alone. The person who had been comforting him to sleep had already left.
Outside the inn, distant and loud calls could occasionally be heard. Yu Le had gotten out of bed, opened the door, and heard soft conversation coming from the courtyard.
Lu Yao and Uncle An had been sitting in the courtyard, seemingly going through accounts. There had been several stacks of RMB beside them, one of which Yu Le had sneaked a few bills from.
Lu Yao had been holding a green-covered notebook, writing something with a ballpoint pen. Yu Le had sat down by the corridor, resting his chin on the railing, and quietly watched him.
The two downstairs hadn’t looked up or noticed him.
He had watched as Lu Yao tore off a page and handed it to Uncle An, and suddenly had an idea. His eyes had lit up.
He had gone back to his room, taken out his sketchbook, picked a blank page, and doodled on it. Then he had torn it out, skillfully folded it into a paper airplane, and gone back to the corridor to sit down again.
The cat, Shui Cai, had noticed him. It had excitedly scratched at the ground with its front paws, its tail wagging like a propeller.
Yu Le had quickly made a “shh” gesture to it. It seemed to understand, lying down and continuing to wag its tail with its tongue sticking out.
Yu Le had propped his chin on one hand, holding the paper airplane in the other, and waited patiently for the right moment.
The wind had died down. Uncle An had been looking down, writing. Yu Le had seized the chance to blow a couple of breaths on the plane’s nose, found the right angle, and thrown it outside.
Whoosh—
The little fish 0-01 took off.
The paper airplane unfolded its wings and glided smoothly on the air currents, making a gentle spiral in the air above the courtyard. Yu Le’s heart was in his throat, and it unexpectedly caught the attention of the “target.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Lu Yao noticed the white object. As the plane floated towards him and was about to pass over his head and crash into a tree, he raised his arm and successfully prevented a “crash.”
Oh, so close.
Yu Le couldn’t help but lament, almost hitting himself on the forehead.
Lu Yao looked up at him. Yu Le, lazily tilting his head, rested his elbow on the railing and smiled, making an unsteady heart shape with his hands.
Uncle An, unaware of the covert operations upstairs and downstairs, looked up after finishing signing and saw the paper airplane in Lu Yao’s hand, “What’s this?”
“Just kids having fun,” Lu Yao smiled and naturally placed the paper airplane on a clean rock nearby.
Uncle An understood, “Oh, it’s the kids from Xiaosong’s group, right?”
Lu Yao didn’t confirm or deny.
“No wonder. The kids in our town all like you. As long as you’re back, they’re always running to you. You’re almost becoming the kids’ king.”
“It’s good. It’s lively with them around,” Lu Yao said.
“Kids being noisy, it’s always lively,” Uncle An said. “But speaking of which, Lu Yao, you’re not young anymore. Are you planning to have your own child?”
Older generations often inquire about careers, family, and lifelong matters in this way.
Uncle An was quick to speak, and only after asking did he remember Lu Yao had once mentioned not liking girls. He quickly apologized and patted his head, just as he was about to apologize further, Lu Yao spoke softly, “Well, I’m already raising one.”
